News

Michael Collins whiskey for US

COOLEY Distillery, Ireland’s last remaining independent whiskey maker, has signed a potentially lucrative deal to supply a Michael Collins-branded Irish whiskey to Sidney Frank Importing, a US drinks distributor.

Lee Einsidler, Sidney Frank’s chief executive, said he expected Cooley, headed by the entrepreneur John Teeling, to supply 50,000 cases of whiskey to the company in year one of the deal. This is an ambitious target given that 550,000 cases of Irish whiskey are sold in America each year. It would make the company Cooley’s biggest customer.

“We eventually hope to bring the brand worldwide,” Einsidler said.

Sidney Frank, a privately owned, New York-based company, is hoping to cash in on the recent growth in Irish whiskey consumption in America, where sales are increasing by 15% a year. This comes at a time when spirits sales as a whole are flat. There will be two types of whiskey: an original blend